—Our Mayor’s race was driven by the topics of transparency, openness, accountability, integrity and citizen representation. Also, the topic of working with all council members to create a more “partnership “ attitude for the benefit of the public was discussed.

—I have requested a comparison breakdown of what Sue Quandbeck and her department provided for the citizens compared with this new positions. I also have requested from Paul TenHaken what the salary will be for this new position. I have asked our City staff what Sue Quandbeck was getting paid. (Including her benefits, which I have been told is based on 30% of the salary for all employees.)

—I enthusiastically supported the Mayor’s choice for our City Attorney. Stacy Kooistra came into our midst with a clean slate and he exudes integrity, fairness, solid knowledge of the law and a maturity and demeanor that is in my opinion very admirable and fitting for our City Attorney. I stated my feelings about him during the Council meeting before we voted to approve him several weeks ago.

—Many of my Colleagues , and the Mayor do NOT allow citizens the opportunity to comment on their Facebook page. I do allow respectful conversation from my more than 3300 friends on my personal Facebook page. However, I am under no obligation to accept friends , or keep friends who are disrespectful or belligerent. I also reserve the right to delete comments that are disrespectful, and attacking.

—This IT position is so very important for the integrity of information for the citizens and the entire City communication system. We need an IT director who is impartial and of the highest level of integrity. Our responsibility as Council members is to ensure that we have the best person serving the citizens. It is our right and responsibility to vet each candidate. This position needs a leader who is committed to Citizen responsiveness, transparency, communication and has a respectful approach to the public and to the Council members.

— The IT Director needs to have the greatest regard for all the citizens and giving them access and representation. I had concerns about the resistance Jason Riesdoerfer displayed when we brought an ordinance developing district representation for the Park Board. This ordinance would have given all parts of our community a place at the table. Jason was very opposed to allowing each area of our community to have a representative on the Park Board, instead defending the closed status quo.

–The IT Director needs to be available and open to hearing from the Public. After Jason and the Park Board voted against the ordinance requesting more citizens representation, I made a formal request at the Park Board meeting to have all Park Board members give me their contact information so I could let the public know how to contact them. Jason and the rest of the Park Board members REFUSED.

—The IT Director needs to be committed to transparency and accessibility. Jason and the rest of the Park Board refuses to hold meetings in a place where they can be video recorded.

—The IT Director needs to show professionalism for our community. Jason’s demeanor on Facebook was less than that. After he called me a Liar, I did unfriend him. Although I had concerns about this attitude coming from a Park Board member, I decided not to pursue it at the time, and let it go. But now , with a proposal to put Jason in charge of all the communications that the public will get , as well as the council information, I needed to step out and express my concerns.

—The IT Director needs to be open and transparent. Jason and the Park Board defended the “secret selection” committee’s recommendation to kick the Dakota Golf Company to the curb. The community and the City Council deserved to have the information used for this decision. I was very vocal about this need for the public to know.

The Mayor’s department, and the Park Board refused. When I stated concerns about the ongoing employment for the staff of Dakota Golf on Facebook, Jason attacked me and called me a liar.

We have since experienced that Dakota Golf manager Tom Jansa was Not retained by the new Golf Company.

USD's women's basketball landed in Starkville, Mississippi this afternoon ahead of Friday's NCAA tournament game against Clemson, Keloland's Sean Bower is traveling with the team and joins us with more.It's been a whirlwind of a week for the Coyotes as they make their second ever appearance in the NCAA women's basketball tournament. On Monday, USD earned […]

O'Gorman junior Emma Ronsiek is a nominee for the Sanford Pentagon/KELOLAND Media Group Player of the Year award for a second straight season. Ronsiek surpassed one-thousand career points at the state "AA" tournament, and is already one of the Knights' all-time great players.Emma Ronsiek burst onto the local basketball scene as a freshman, and developed […]